TEAM FUSION

Move over Martha Stewart

2012-01-31T15:49:00.000-08:00

Caleb yet again broke the Christmas gift budget by getting me a sewing machine. Don't get me wrong; I am extremely grateful, but it made my homemade bean bag hand-warmers look pathetic in comparison. In the meantime I have tried to put it to good use. I made a few killer burp cloths and these beauties:

I couldn't wait until Valentine's Day to give them to Caleb. He made me promise not to tell any of his male friends that he is sleeping on a pink pillow with hearts on it. Since i doubt any men read this blog, I think I'm safe.

Also, Lainey didn't have a Sunday dress, so I made her one with some leftover fabric. It was a LOT harder than I thought. A pattern might have been helpful. Still, I'm proud of it in a kindergarten-popsicle-stick-project kind of way.

Did you know?

2012-01-24T08:51:00.000-08:00

I recycle.

I am terrified of helium tanks and other pressurized containers. I have an irrational fear that they will explode.

I love HGTV.

My favorite thing to do is try new restaurants.

Someday I wanna be the PTA president.

I am a habitual blood donor.

Sometimes I still cry when I get a haircut. Hence why it is so long.

Lately I have decided to be more politically active. (see https://mittromney.com/node/246386 )
It started when I realized that Newt Gingrich might actually become the president someday. I decided I had to do everything I could to prevent that. I believe that the president should represent America's values, and that what you do when nobody is looking is who you really are.

I also don't get upset if people disagree with my political views, but I can't stand it when people call my opinions "closed-minded." For one, I consider myself an educated individual, and second, having an opinion does not make you a bigot.

I adore my husband, and love to brag about him--despite how much he hates it.

I have this aversion to video games. It is partly because I think they are responsible for the degradation of society, and partly because I am bad at them.

I still follow BYU football religiously.

I have postpartum elevation. That happens when you never realized how happy you could be until you have a child.

Baby Blessing

2012-01-11T12:47:00.000-08:00

Sunday was baby blessing day for Lainey. It's hard to describe the feelings of the day; words just don't seem to do justice. I will say that it was one of the most meaningful days of my life as I pondered both the blessings that I've received lately, and the heavy responsibility it is to be a mother.

Alaina's great-grandparents were able to make it down from Chicago for the blessing. I adore them.

Mom and daughter

Caleb's mom was visiting from California for the week to see her first grandchild. She made Lainey's dress. I don't know if you can tell by the pictures how intricate and beautiful it is.

With daddy

. This is the first time Great-Grandpa Miskin held her. He'd been trying all day, but said, "It is IMPOSSIBLE to get between that baby and the grandmas."

Baby and Christmas and Holiday Cheer

2011-12-29T11:45:00.000-08:00

She's only been here 2.5 weeks and already we're spoiling her. Christmas was rather low-key for us because we couldn't travel to California to be with family, but that doesn't mean Alaina didn't get plenty from Santa.

Here she is with most of her presents: Some new bottles, some headbands, an adorable hat, and a boppy.

She also got a mobi wrap, which I LOVE.

Not to mention all the new friends she has now:

These are our adorable neighbor friends, Gelise and Byron. They LOVE babies, so we've seen them a lot lately.

And here she is with her cousin Ella.

And how could we forget the special visit from Gma Snell?

But the best present, in my opinion, was the nursery. My mom and I had a blast decorating while she was here. I'd sleep in there myself if I could fit in the crib.

I still haven't decided what to put in the other frames. Any suggestions?

My favorite part of the project was repainting this free changing table we got. I had lots of fun with the swirly designs.

We may have gotten carried away, but they say you can't spoil a child til she's at least 6 months old. :)

She's Here!

2011-12-15T14:05:00.000-08:00

Alaina Beth Miskin joined our family on Monday, Dec. 12 at 10:14am. We are so excited to have her safely here with us! Here are some photos from the day. Please forgive my appearance. Childbirth is rough.

At my last appointment the doc said she would probably be between 7.5 and 8 pounds. Liar.

She is HUGE. The nurses were joking that I gave birth to a toddler.

You know, we never really think about how traumatic the birth experience must be for the baby. I think I'd have a swollen face too if I just made a trip down the birth canal.

We're thinking she'll be a linebacker. Look at those shoulders!

Best husband award goes to Caleb. I could not have had Alaina naturally without his help. Poor guy was up with me all night and never left my side. He even has a few bruises and scratches to prove it!

She finally decided to open her eyes!

I've changed my perspective a little on natural childbirth. Before I was really into it because I am all about having control over my body, promoting a speedy recovery, and letting the body do what it knows how to do. But after having Alaina, I have changed my views a little. Why? Well, because first of all, when I was writhing in pain from contractions, there was no control no matter how hard I tried to focus. An epidural may take away some control of your body, but at least you can smile through it. Second, a natural birth does not guarantee a speedy recovery. Case and point: me. I lost a lot more blood than I should have, which led to me losing consciousness three separate times after birth. I ended up needing a huge bolus of fluids and two blood transfusions. I was so weak that I could hardly pick up my baby. If I were born 100 years ago, I probably would have died. So much for a speedy recovery, and three cheers for modern medicine!

I'm not saying I'm against natural childbirth now or anything. I still ardently admire any woman who chooses to do it; I'm just simply much more open to other options now. I also can't help but think how much better I'd look in pictures too... but that's a rather vain reason.

I know I'm partial, but I just think she is the most beautiful baby in the world. I love her so much, and am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for blessing us with a happy, healthy baby girl. Christmas came early for the Miskins!

Ticking time bomb

2011-11-30T14:28:00.001-08:00

I haven't taken many pregnancy photos, mostly because I'm in denial about my current size. But some people have asked for some, so I had Caleb snap a few during the Thanksgiving weekend. Perhaps I made a mistake. The first thing my sister said when she saw them was "are you sure you aren't having twins?" Nice. That's what every woman wants to hear. I know I have an excuse for being large right now, but there are very few ways to see comments like "Oh my gosh, you're HUGE!" or "You just look miserable" as a compliment.

Last month at a Relief Society meeting an older lady came up to me and said, "You're not big enough to be due in December!" I wanted to kiss her. It's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me, even if her comment warrants a visit to the optometrist.

Nonetheless, here is me at 38.5 weeks.

I'm considering the vegetarian lifestyle

2011-11-13T13:00:00.001-08:00

Snells aren't gun people. Miskins are. Before I married Caleb phrases like "opening day," "10-pointer," and "deer stand" had about as much meaning to me as Caleb speaking Portuguese when he doesn't want me to know what he's saying. Incomprehensible mumbo jumbo, if you will. Well, my friends, November 12th marked a special--nay, sacred--day in the Miskin household: the first day of firearm hunting season.

The rituals began the day before, as Caleb left class early (an anomaly in itself) to go sight in his gun before sundown. He spent the following few hours strategizing with his uncle and cousin about which deer stand provided optimal visualization for dropping "the big kahuna." This was done with the help of a map of the woods, complete with color coded game trails and exit routes. It was precious.

After all the plans were made, we all watched a Louis L'Amour movie (Sacketts) about three trigger-happy brothers trying to survive the wild western frontier. OK, the movie wasn't too bad. I keep meaning to read me some Louis L'Amour. But nonetheless, this activity points out the family fascination with guns. These men are cowboys to the core.

At 4:30am the men awoke and showered with "Scent-A-Way" soap so the deer couldn't detect their presence.

5:30 am: they made their way out into the woods, with guns and camo body suits in tow.

7:22am: the first shot was heard

approx 10am: Caleb kills a large 9-point buck

12pm-12am the following morning: the family prepares meat for consumption. This process involves gutting, skinning, de-boning, washing, wrapping, and freezing the meat. It was quite a process. Now I am much more grateful that I can go to the grocery store and just buy my meat--not that I'll need to for a while. We probably have 100 pounds of venison to get us through the year.

I have a few photos from the day. Beware if you have a weak stomach:

Kinda gross, right?

She's got a bun in the oven...

2011-11-01T06:48:00.000-07:00

2011 Halloween costumes for the Miskins.

An Update

2011-10-15T10:51:00.000-07:00

I decided that I am more vain than I thought I was. I discovered this when I awoke a few mornings ago to find stretch marks all over my belly. Sorry if that's a little tmi. It's life. I find myself looking down and doubting that I will ever shrink back to my pre-pregnancy size. My fingers have become sausages because I'm retaining water. My ankles have achieved kankle status. And then there's the extra 25 pounds I'm carrying around. I try to remind myself where all that weight is going to, like my blood circulation, the baby, placenta, etc... but when you feel like a whale, it's hard to keep that in mind. We also had to get new drivers licenses last week. That is just what I needed: a close-up photo of my fat pregnant face on the license that doesn't expire until March 7th of 2018. Then they ask you a few identifying questions:

"Hair color?"

"Brown."

"Eye color?"

"Ditto."

"Height?"

"5'5''

"Weight?"

"Uhh..."

Well I definitely lied. I did not want to see THAT number on there for the next 6.5 years. Sidenote: I only have one craving... ICE. You would think that would help keep the weight off. Nope.

So yep, I feel huge. But life is pretty good these days. I bought a house. That was fun. We love it, but we have struggled finding furniture to put in it. For now we have camping chairs in the living room...

Also, Caleb was awarded the Centennial Fellowship from the Chemical Engineering Dept. at Purdue. This one basically means the college gives him an extra $3,000 every year, which is GREATLY appreciated. I'm so proud of him. We got to go to this fancy cocktail party and dinner and meet a bunch of the Purdue big wigs.

Here are some photos of our lovely new home:

And here are some belly pics that my mom has been begging me for...

Raindrops on Roses

2011-09-01T14:03:00.000-07:00

I have realized some more "favorite things" since moving to Indiana, so I thought I'd share:

1. public libraries. West Lafayette has an awesome public library that has more books than I could ever read. (Alpine, Ut didn't even have a library, so I had to go to Highland City's library, which consisted of about five shelves and a rather cranky librarian. So this is a step up.) I also have rather sour memories of the Temecula public library because there was always this homeless lady there who smelled terrible. I could never get to the books I wanted without holding my breath. So far I haven't had to do that here, so I'm happy.

2. Corn and green beans. I always liked vegetables, but now that I'm in the midwest I feel "country" when I eat locally grown produce. It tastes so much better out here.

3. House Hunting. We are actually in the process of buying a house. I don't want to post about it until the deal goes through. (I tend to get my hopes up about these things.) But I feel so dignified talking to realtors, going the bank for a loan, scheduling home inspections, etc. In fact sometimes I just like to throw out words like "mortgage" and "fifteen-year fixed interest rate" just to feel grown up.

4. homemade bread. So I had a job lined up out here and it kinda fell through. If finding a job was hard before, just try being six months pregnant. "Hi, yes, I'd like to work for you. But only for the next three months. And then I'd like six weeks maternity leave, and after that I only want to work once a week or so, just to keep my nursing license active..." Hmm, and I wonder why nobody calls me back. But anyway, unemployment has left me with some time on my hands. So I started baking bread once a week. It's divine, except for I eat WAY more bread than I used to. Trust me, the last thing I need right now is a caloric increase. I'm gaining weight just fine without it.

I had no idea how many corn fields there were in America...

2011-08-20T10:04:00.000-07:00

We're Here! After five LONG days of driving, Caleb and I pulled in to our new home: West Lafayette, Indiana. Here are a few highlights from the trip...

Our first pit stop (minus the bathroom breaks every hour. pregnancy is cruel for the traveler) was at the Little America somewhere in Wyoming. They had 50 cent ice cream cones; hence why I made Caleb stop. We found a random dinosaur, and I tried to climb on top. The belly got in the way, so I settled for a photo in front of it.

Next stop was at the Martin's Cove historic church site. This is a (terrible) photo of us up at the cove. We were supposed to hike there, but pregnancy again got in the way. I had a rather bad flare up of my sciatic nerve, and could hardly walk, so the nice senior missionaries gave us a ride up in a golf cart. Caleb was so embarrassed. Poor thing.

We decided that it's hard to take pictures on a road trip because there is never anyone around to snap the photo. We used the hood of our car a lot, which is why we lack any quality pictures.

I couldn't hike to Martin's Cove, but there was no way Caleb was going to let me stop him from climbing Independence Rock. He literally dragged me up, which I am thankful for now. I loved seeing all the old names carved into the rock of people passing through from hundreds of years before.

I don't have any photos from Casper, WY, but that's where we spent the first night of the journey. Caleb's cousin Brittany was gracious enough to let us stay with her, even though her bathroom and kitchen were undergoing a remodel. We had a great time playing with her kiddos and getting to know her better.

Day two of the journey was a NIGHTMARE. We left Casper at 6:30am and didn't get to Kansas City until 9:30pm. Why? Oh, because every river in Nebraska and Kansas was flooded. You can't cross a bridge if the river is flooded, even though Emily (our less-than-helpful-at-times- GPS) told us too. We ended up driving two hours out of the way trying to find a way across the Missouri river. Finally, after three different bridges, we finally got across. We stayed the night with the Larsen family, friends that used to live in Temecula. I'm sad I don't have any photos of them either. On the way out we hit up Liberty Jail and went by the new temple being built in Kansas City.

The next stop was Far West, MO. We had lunch there and really enjoyed the calm, peaceful surroundings.

I hate being the only person in a photo, especially when I'm 15 pounds heavier than usual. Caleb made me do it.

We also stopped at Adam-Ondi-Ahman, which was very nice, but I don't have any photos to prove it. After that we went onward to spend a day in Nauvoo--my favorite part of the trip.

We stayed at the Chief Motel in Keokuk, a city right next to Nauvoo. I wouldn't recommend it, but I would recommend the restaurant we ate at called "Angelinis." I'm sure we got some looks when we ordered an Extra Large pizza for just the two of us. So good.

Caleb and I both really enjoyed visiting all the little homes along Historic Nauvoo. I think Caleb wanted a picture of him under a yoke to symbolize his burden of supporting a wife and soon-to-be child.

I put my shoulder to the wheel.

Caleb met his long lost twin. Seriously, I don't know if this picture even does it justice. They looked SO MUCH ALIKE. We had people coming up to us all day asking Caleb why we wasn't wearing his missionary tag and costume, and why he wasn't with the band. Once we saw this guy--a young preforming missionary who plays the drums for the Nauvoo Brass Band, we understood why, and asked him for a photo. It was fun.

We camped in Nauvoo the second night. I wouldn't recommend that either. This picture captures an embarrassing story of me. You look at the water pump and think, "You need to pump it, right?" Nope. Caleb just laughed at me while I was furiously pumping the handle, wondering why no water was coming out. Turns out you just had to lift the handle. Maybe being in Historic Nauvoo for a day made me revert back to the primitive ways of life. We were, after all, camping.

We stopped at Carthage Jail on our way out of Nauvoo. That was another favorite part of the trip. I gained a new appreciation and admiration for Joseph and Hyrum Smith.

After approximately 1900 miles, we finally passed into our new home state! We've been here for a week now, and are still trying to settle in, which is hard because we don't have a permanent home yet. We are looking at buying a house, and are staying at Caleb's grandparent's in the meantime. We found a duplex that we really like, and are meeting with a realtor on Monday to get the ball rolling.

Snells... Doing what we do best

2011-07-28T12:04:00.000-07:00

Caleb has a theory that in the Snell genes there is a specific mutation which kills off anything with XY chromosomes, therefore disallowing any possibility of producing a male heir.

He may be right.

It's a GIRL!!! Hey, I guess we Snells will just stick to what we're good at. :)

Thoughts on Pregnancy, take two

2011-07-26T11:54:00.000-07:00

So I just hit 20 weeks pregnant. Half way there! My big appointment is tomorrow, where we will make sure baby has developed properly, and also find out if we are having a boy or girl. I am really excited to start calling my baby something other than "it."
I am feeling much better than I was during the first trimester. No more nausea or vomiting, but I have graduated to other gestational "milestones." Exibit one: heartburn. I have downed nearly an entire bottle of tums in the last month. Exibit two: getting fat. I was so proud of myself for only gaining two pounds in the first fifteen weeks. Well, I returned to the scale on friday to find that I had gained ten pounds--not unexpected for pregnancy, but not ideal for fitting into your pants either. It's time for maternity shopping. Exhibit three (which has been more enjoyable than the previous two): feeling my baby move. This occurs especially after a big meal, or when I wear tighter pants. I can tell my baby likes "its" space.

Thoughts on Pregnancy

2011-06-22T12:07:00.000-07:00

First of all, I have to say my expectations of pregnancy were dashed to pieces very early. My mom always told me how much she "loved being pregnant." She never threw up, and only gained about 20 pounds, which gracefully melted off in delivery. So when I found myself spending full hours crouched by the toilet at week 6, I was significantly disappointed.

Thought one: I have invented a new medical condition. It's called gastric tetany. It's when your stomach involuntarily and permanently contracts, expelling any and all of its contents. Thought 1a: if you didn't have to throw up before, just put your face by a toilet. Nothing makes me want to throw up more. Or maybe it's just a learned response. Not sure.There is no cure but time to gastric tetany. I woke up one day at about 12 weeks and felt better. But those 6 weeks were awful.

Thought two. Pregnancy is not synonymous with incapacity. Nobody will let me do anything because they think I might break. I'm not too upset about this one, though. I'll take advantage while I still can.

Thought four: I have become a hypochondriac, thinking that everything that could possibly go wrong with my baby inevitably will.

Thought five: I actually don't mind people touching my belly. It helps calm my insecurities that I just look fat.

Thought six: I used to never go down the baby aisle at the store. I just didn't care. Now I can't avoid it. I love all things baby. I'm so excited to have one!

a hawaii surprise

2011-06-14T14:14:00.000-07:00

My dad turned 50 last week, and decided to take our family to Hawaii to celebrate. We had a blast, and I'll blog about that later, but I just wanted to share the gift Caleb and I got my dad for his milestone birthday. It was a picture of this:

We are having a baby! I'm about 14.5 weeks along, and Baby Miskin is due on December 6. We are so excited!

Our Weekend in Midway

2011-05-21T15:48:00.000-07:00

A year ago on May 15, Caleb and I were married. We celebrated our anniversary in Midway, Ut.

Here is a summary of the trip...

My grandparents graciously lent us their cabin in Midway for the weekend. It was like an extremely remote flash back to the '70s. (That is, if we were alive then.) We quickly realized when we got there how ill prepared we were for the trip. There was no internet, no TV, and not even a board game in the place.

But no matter... we just spent most of our time outside.

This was no difficulty for Caleb. I felt like I had taken an anxious puppy with me more than a husband. He was thrilled to spend some time outdoors.

We went biking a lot. I have profoundly improved since our second date. This time I only crashed once inside of twice. But at least I could actually keep up with Caleb.

We found some beautiful trails at Soldier Hollow. I told Caleb I wanted to take a picture of him (below), but I really just needed to catch my breath.

He took a similar picture of me, but I too was wearing spandex biking shorts. Hence, no one will ever see it.

The Soldier Hollow bike ride was our favorite part of the trip. We were gone for about four hours.

Later we had a picnic. It was freezing, so I bundled up after we ate.

I told Caleb that because he took me fishing on our honeymoon, he was not allowed to fish on our first anniversary. So what did he do?

He wandered around until he found another fisherman, and just watched him...

365 days so far...

2011-05-19T11:51:00.000-07:00

I'm playing around with my blog's format. I'm bored of it. As you can see, I changed the blog name to "Team Fusion." Let me explain: Before I met Caleb my parents always said I was too picky when it came to dating. Then I met Caleb, who met every expectation I had in a spouse. My dad always said that our relationship shares certain similarities with nuclear physics. If we were united and worked together, we could be as powerful as "nuclear fusion." On the other hand, he joked that our strong personalities, if at odds, could create mayhem like nuclear "fission." (For a refresher science course, please see the following links:)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_fusion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_fission
Caleb and I have always tried to steer toward the "fusion" side. Hence, we fondly call ourselves "Team Fusion." We even have a related secret handshake. :)
I am explaining all of this because this past weekend we celebrated our first anniversary. We spent it up at my grandparent's cabin in Midway. I had such a good time, and I am so grateful for Caleb and all he does for me. I love him so much, and am thrilled for the years ahead.
Pictures of the weekend are coming soon!

on to be a boilermaker

2011-04-01T11:47:00.000-07:00

Hi all, apologies for the long absence.

So Caleb applied to grad schools a few months ago. (This is my super smart husband that we're talking about.) He got accepted to Purdue University in Indiana, and MIT in Boston. (Don't feel bad if you don't know what MIT is.) For some reason a lot of people haven't heard of it, even though it's one of the best universities in the WORLD. (Mind you, Caleb had to score a PERFECT score on his GRE math test, and a near perfect score on the verbal portion. I'm so proud. :)

We thought for sure we would go to MIT, simply because of the prestige, and the fact that there is no better place to get a chemical engineering PhD. But after vising both schools, the decision got a little harder. He didn't really fit in with the MIT students/staff. Apparently it's such a good school because the people sacrifice everything else in their lives for the sake of academia. He wasn't sure he was willing to give up so many things just to have an illustrious school on his resume.

The Purdue trip went really well. Caleb met some great professors, and he got to spend time with his grandparents, who live 15 minutes away. We were also swayed toward Indiana because of financial reasons. Both schools give Caleb almost the same amount of money every year, but it goes A LOT further at Purdue. We would probably be able to buy a house there, while in Boston we would pay $1700/month for a dumpy one-bedroom apartment. Add on another $275 just to park your car there. I don't want to live like that for the next six years. Neither did Caleb. So after much prayer and deliberation, we decided on Purdue. It was a hard decision, especially because my good friend Heidi and her husband are moving to Boston in the fall. I'm also really liking my job here Salt Lake City, so it will be hard to leave. But this opportunity is too good to pass up. We will probably be moving out there in August sometime. I'm really excited.

The BYU blunder

2011-03-02T18:37:00.000-08:00

I bleed blue. So I took the news about Brandon Davies pretty hard. But I appreciated this espn video. Integrity is more important than any basketball game.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=6174077&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

I could not have put it better...

2011-02-26T06:26:00.001-08:00

I wrote a paper my freshman year at BYU entitled "Where have all the good men gone?" It was a social commentary on the destructive nature of video games in males ages 18-30.

Seems like this author shares a few of my frustrations...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704409004576146321725889448.html

I'm thankful my husband is an exception.

A Valentine's Gift from the Heart (literally)

2011-02-19T12:17:00.000-08:00

Caleb and I decided to start a new Valentine's tradition: Donating blood together. Maybe it's the nurse in me, but I am a huge advocate of blood donation. One prick in exchange for saving lives, not to mention the treats they give you after. :) We had a really fun day together. We also went to Caleb's favorite sushi place called Yamato in Orem, and went to the temple after. A word of advice: do not do sealings after donating blood. You will inevitably pass out and wake up on the floor to find your husband holding your feet up and four or five concerned women huddled around you. Or at least that's what happened to me. So embarrassing. Then my grandparents took us out to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. My grandpa was sort of repaying us for backing into our car last week.

Happy Heart Day!

my new favorite verb

2011-01-30T08:14:00.000-08:00

"I totally Jimmered my math test"--or so someone posted on facebook. I thought it was awesome. It's not even just a BYU thing either; an espn.com article said that "Jimmer-mania" is sweeping the entire nation. You just can't stop him. Jimmer Fredette is a prodigy. You just wait, world, because he is the next Steve Nash. Enough said on that.

So, Hi. It's me again. Been out for a while on vacation/transitioning to my new life.

I started my new "grown-up" job finally. I'm a research nurse for J. Lewis Research, Inc. My official title is a "Clinical Research Coordinator," and I work out of a clinic in Salt Lake City. Here's my job in a nutshell: Pharmaceutical companies are working on making new medications all the time, but they have to go through lots of testing before they can sell them. In the final stages of testing, the drugs have to be tested on people. That's my job. I recruit and put qualifying candidates on a new drug study, then I document how they are reacting to it. Don't worry; by this phase, the drugs are relatively safe, and nobody ever dies or anything. The patients get paid for their time too, so they are usually excited about it. I didn't have high expectations about this job to begin with, but I actually like it a lot. It's less stressful than working in a hospital, and the people I work with are really nice. I just have to get used to working full-time again. I'm embarrassed to say that I haven't had a full-time job since the summer of 2007, unless you count being an EFY counselor, which I don't. The commute is kinda annoying too. With traffic, it usually takes about 45 minutes to get home. I work 10-hour shifts, so I really don't have time to do anything on the days I work. But having 3 days off every week is worth it. I'm also finding that I manage my time much better when I'm busy. Like I went to the gym four times last week!

That's pretty much my life right now. Except I have to share that yesterday I shut my head in a car door. Ask me how that happened. I'm still not sure. Now I have a splitting headache and a hematoma-like lump behind my ear. That car door "Jimmered" me. Sometimes I wonder if I should be monitoring other people's health if I can't even take care of myself.

I'm so grateful...

2011-01-15T15:47:00.000-08:00

I feel like Buddy the Elf sometimes (you know, because singing really IS my favorite, and I love Toll House cookie dough, and don't even get me started on snuggling). Anyway, there are some days when life is really great, and I just feel like smiling, or yelling out "I'm in love and I don't care who knows it!" Today is one of those days. Why? Well let me tell you:

1. I spent like four hours with my old roommate/favorite person ever, Lauren today. She got home from her mission just before Christmas, and we had a BLAST. Well, how can you not have a good time when you have the all-you-can-eat french toast from Kneaders, right? Lar and I have lived under the same roof since freshman year, and you could say we are "kindred spirits." Seriously love her.

2. My husband is wonderful. When I start telling other people about him (Lar, in this case) I re-realize exactly how good I have it. Not every wife can say, "Yeah, my husband got a perfect math score on the GRE," or "My husband took me shopping this weekend," or "My husband volunteered to watch Eclipse with me if I couldn't find a friend to go with." (I didn't make him, btw). He's just really great. I tell him all the time that he settled when he married me.

3. I'm headed to the airport in about an hour. Finally going home for the holidays! We both worked on Christmas, so now we finally can go to California to see our families. I love family. This trip I am looking forward to: seeing my niece Aidyn for the first time, getting my hair cut, watching True Grit with my dad (he used to force me to watch the John Wayne version), going to Disneyland with Corrie, and just having fun with Caleb. So great.

Wow, that got me in such a good mood that I might just endure the TSA scanners...

Feliz Vida!

2011-01-06T13:40:00.000-08:00

I am currently loving life. Christmas/New Year's was really enjoyable for me, despite the unconventional nature of my celebratory style. For example, Caleb and I didn't get a Christmas tree this year. Week after week in December, the missing Tannenbaum continued to eat at me until I finally found a makeshift solution to this common holiday tradition: I made one out of flannel.

Remember those stockings I made? Well, I had some extra fabric, and this was the best I could do. Another odd thing about our tree is that all of the presents underneath it aren't ours. We bought a new bed for Christmas, so these are all the presents that would eventually go to other people. It just looked so bare under the tree that I had to borrow them. I figure we will look back on this picture with fondness someday. During the time I felt a little pathetic.

Another GREAT thing about this Christmas: Corrie Beth came to visit unexpectedly. She spent a few days with me in Springville, and we had a blast.

We made a snowman...

And played with Caleb (right after we took this picture Corrie and I attacked Caleb with a snowball.)

And we snuggled. That was my favorite. It was nice to have a roommate while Caleb was working the night shift.

Caleb had to work on Christmas Eve, so I sort of invited myself over to my aunt and uncle's house in Lehi. There is nothing like watching little kids open presents on Christmas morning. Although it does remind me of Caleb when he catches a big fish. :)

Spencer and McKay. Not exactly sure what that hand signal is.

Sammi and her new robe. I learned that those slippers are called "Oobies." Very hot right now amongst the tween population.

Sarah loving breakfast. I have finally found someone to rival my sister Rylee and her ketchup obsession.

Cute cousin Mariah. Sorry the picture is sideways.

As I said before, Caleb and I decided not to get each other presents this year because we bought our bed. So I was a little confused when he gave me a vaccuum. He said he could break the rule because he made it. I felt dumb for not getting him something. But anyway, on Dec. 27th we moved into our new apartment, which we adore. I've spent the last week moving in/trying to make everything fit--and that is hard to do in a 400 square foot apartment. It's rather hobbit-hole-esque, but couldn't be more perfect for our current needs. Here are some pics:

The Kitchen Counter. You will understand later why I chose a red theme.

That food rack was the best purchase of our married life. It fits all of our food, plus our microwave and toaster. Love it.

As I said, RED. At first it drove me crazy, but now I don't mind it so much. The red in the kitchen kinda ties it together with the rest of the room.

We love our ward, we love how beautiful Alpine is, and we really like being so close to the mountains. This was an excellent choice for us. We will be here at least until August, when Caleb hopefully goes to grad school. His applications are in, and we should hear back by March. In the meantime, he is still working in Lehi as an engineer, and I am working in Salt Lake City as a research nurse. Life is good!

The Nest...

2010-12-28T12:08:00.001-08:00

We are in our new place! It's a small one-bedroom apartment in Alpine, Utah, but it is home sweet home to us. The big move happened yesterday, and the only glitch was that RC Willey lost our bed. So we spent our first night in sleeping bags. Kinda exciting. The bed came this morning, so I'll spend the next few weeks trying to make room for all of our stuff. I won't post any pictures until then, because right now it looks like a warehouse with boxes everywhere.

Happy Lap Appy!

2010-12-14T20:49:00.000-08:00

So, I'm a nurse, right? Well, yesterday I realized how much I hate being at a hospital when I'm not working there. Especially when my husband is the patient. Monday was quite the eventful day, but before I go into details, I'll give a brief history:

For the last three years, Caleb has suffered from some really intense abdominal pain. We nurses like to objectify our pain by using the "pain scale." 0 is no pain, 10 is the worst pain you have ever felt in your life. (Which, according to Brian Regan, is getting your femur cracked in half. In fact, you should really watch this video if you haven't seen it. It is hilarious, and strangely similar to our ER experience.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-JRQXYy9wk

Caleb's pain would get up to 8 and 9 about every month or so. Anyway, he's seen every specialist and had every test done, but nobody could find anything wrong. He's been to the ER a few times, and the same things always happens. They think it's his appendix, so they do a CT Scan, and find out it's not the appendix, then send him home again with diddly squat. Super frustrating. So that's been going on for the last 3 years, and it's been really hard for me to see Caleb in so much pain. Plus it messes with his life. He won't sleep or eat because his body hurts so much.

Anyway, so back to Monday: Caleb had been in excruciating pain since Saturday night. By Monday morning the pain was still just as bad. So I woke up at 6am to find him writhing in bed. I made him get up and I took him to the ER. Same thing: they think appendix, so they do a CT Scan. This time the appendix shows "borderline" inflammation. It was enough for us. We told that doctor to take it out. Doing something was better than nothing. By 11am Caleb is in surgery for a "laparascopic appendectomy" (hence the title of this post). I sit in the waiting room--a nervous wreck of a wife--wondering a) how the surgery was going, and b) how big the hospital bill would be. Merry Christmas, Caleb! They took your appendix and your money, AND any time off you had acquired at work.

Soon enough, the doc comes in to update me: Surgery went well, except for they found a little something extra when they opened him up. He then shows me this picture of Caleb's insides:

So, um, that swollen rope-like thing? Not his appendix. Not supposed to be there. In fact, neither the doctor nor the pathologist have any idea what it is. It is some 4-inch long anomalous tissue that started right behind the belly button and connected back behind his intestines somewhere. The doc thinks that Caleb's intestines were getting wrapped around it, causing all the pain and inflammation. So they took that out along with his appendix.

This may sound strange, but I am SO GLAD! Not glad about Caleb's surgery and potentially-malignant-alien-looking-appendage, but that the doctors were finally able to figure out what was causing him all that pain! Dr. Francis has restored our faith in modern medicine.

I am filled with gratitude this holiday season as I reflect on all the blessings that God has given me, especially this year. He is in control. He knows us, loves us, and wants us to trust him. When we do, things have a way of working out.

Flotsam and Jetsam and Holiday Cheer

2010-12-10T11:07:00.000-08:00

A few things lately...

1. This week Caleb and I accompanied the youth of our ward on a Temple Square trip. I love going up to Salt Lake during Christmas time. It's so beautiful and bustling with excitement. I will say, however, that I don't know what I will do if I ever have sons. Caleb is much more patient with the young men than I am. Teenage boys never sit still, they are always hitting someone or climbing on something, and all they talk about is Nintendo DS/Wii. I have a feeling that any future teenage sons I have will find themselves in a perpetual state of being grounded.

2. We spent Thanksgiving in Kaysville, Ut with G & G Snell. We enjoyed spending time up there, but I only took one photo from the day. It's a pic of my grandma with my adopted cousin Timmy and his other grandma. I post this photo because I am pretty sure Timmy is THE CUTEST CHILD in the world. Go ahead and try to disprove me.

3. I get bored a lot these days. So one day I decided to sew some stockings. I don't know how to use a sewing machine, so I did it by hand. I'm embarrassed at how simple they are, but hey, you have to start somewhere, right?

4. Caleb and I celebrated our 6 month anniversary in November. We went on a really fun hike/run up Hobble Creek Canyon--at least it was fun until we heard a noise that I'm pretty sure was a mountain lion. I made Caleb take me back to the car because I got scared.

5. I love Thai food. Our favorite place is Spicy Thai on University Ave in Provo. But I recently went to Thai Mango over by Cafe Rio, and I loved it too. Guess what their special was that day? PUMPKIN CHICKEN CURRY. Now if you know me at all, you know my adoration for pumpkin. Combine that with my passion for Thai curry, and you have the happiest girl in Utah county. It was divine. The only thing is that Caleb told me whenever I eat Thai food, I smell like it for the next few days. It kinda grosses him out. I hear that happens with most Asian foods. Still worth it, though.

Thoughts from the BYU-Utah game

2010-11-27T18:50:00.000-08:00

1. Brandon Bradley's knee was DOWN, Ref. Curse the Mountain for it's insufficient replay capabilities. What can you expect with only 2 cameras?

2. True freshman Jake Heaps: Props on doing so well in your first rivalry game. You smoked both of Utah's quarterbacks. Way to withstand the pressure. Too bad for Robert Anai's incompetent play-calling. (Too harsh? Sorry, I've just never really been a fan) How many times do you try to run the ball up the middle for NO gain before you realize that it doesn't work?!? Heaps was completing passes! Let him throw, Coach!

3. Mitch Paine: Excellent season, and impressive game. The blocked field goal was not your fault. You had two other great kicks, and it wasn't fair for everyone to leave the game up to you with a 40 yard field goal. Bummer man.

4. U Players. Enough with the juvenile taunting tactics after the game. You won already. Go celebrate with your team instead of harassing Mitch Paine. I love how your own coach had to pry you off of him. Classy, real classy.

5. Brandon Bradley's knee is STILL down.

6. The Deseret First Credit Union Commercials were tacky. I was embarrassed for them.

7. Ute Fans: Go ahead and celebrate all the way to the PAC 10, but just wait until next year. We'll be back.

Sherry Sharing

2010-11-24T15:51:00.000-08:00

I haven't blogged much about our living situation here in Springville. I took as a job as a caregiver for an elderly woman named Sherry. We live with her, and I have been taking care of her for about 5 months, and will be until the new year. Sherry is one of the most lively women I have ever met. We have really enjoyed getting to know her. Over the past few months we have had some really funny experiences, which I have been meaning to write down for a while. Here are a few for your enjoyment...

Sherry only eats one kind of ice cream: Heavenly Hash. We spend about $40 a month on this "nectar from the Gods," as she calls it. She will usually have two bowls every day--one after dinner, and another at about three in the morning when she can't sleep. Apparently one night she wanted her usual fix, but only found unopened cartons in the freezer. She couldn't figure out how to open one, but she really wanted to satisfy her craving. Here is what the box looked like before:

And this is the aftermath. Apparently she ended up using her teeth to rip one whole side of the box off.

Sherry also LOVES her cats. She has three: Ching Li, Charlie, and Katie. One night Sherry came right up to me and started yelling at my feet. She was saying, "Charlie get away from her and come to bed!" She kept on shouting the same thing, and I couldn't figure out why, until I looked down at my feet. Then I realized why.

I was wearing these.

I guess they bear some resemblance...

Speaking of cats, these are the others, Katie and Ching.

You could say she loves her cats a little too much. For instance, after having the following conversation with Sherry, Caleb decided that we needed to set some serious ground rules about her feline friends:

Caleb: "Sherry, tonight we are going to talk about fire safety. What will you do if there is a fire in the house?"

Sherry: "Well, first I will find all of my cats to make sure they are safe, and then I will take them out of the house."

We spent the next few hours trying to convince her that her life means more to us than her three "kids." I just hope we never have a fire.

It's Autumn Time...

2010-11-09T08:54:00.001-08:00

Caleb and Grandpa Larry have been spending some time together lately. My husband seems to have inherited more of my grandpa's blood than I have. They go fishing a lot together, and just recently went pheasant hunting in Provo. Caleb brought his younger brother Tyler along too.

Meanwhile, I stayed home to work on my domestic skills... (Guns aren't my fave. I'm scared of them.)

As I said previously, I've had some time on my hands. And, as I also mentioned before, I LOVE pumpkin. Hence, I made pumpkin pie from scratch. Now I'm talking as scratchy as scratch can get: homemade pie crust, pumpkin straight-out-of-a-pumpkin... the works. It was a blast. Caleb actually helped too when he got home. We made two pies, and both were gone much quicker than I'd like to admit.

"There is no pit so deep that He is not deeper still."

2010-11-06T15:25:00.001-07:00

Just finished another book. You know, sometimes I think life is hard, and then something like this book comes along to remind me how truly blessed I am. The Hiding Place is one of those fascinating true stories of one of the most courageous and faithful women ever born. My little sister was named after her, and I finally got around to reading why. I highly recommend it.

Blender Blunder

2010-10-30T10:04:00.000-07:00

It's been a few weeks, so I can laugh about it now. Such was not the case when it happened. Caleb's birthday was Sunday, Sept. 26, and I wanted to make him a special breakfast. He really likes "eggs in a nest" (when you cut a hole in the bread and fry an egg in the hole), and smoothies. So I got to work.

It is a sad day when one realizes that she has never actually made a smoothie in nearly 23 years of existence. I guess my mom always made them for us, and I never had a craving for them in college. So Caleb's birthday was as good day to learn. I put in frozen fruit, honey, and apparently not enough milk. This is the before shot... Little does the girl in the picture realize how quickly that smile will turn to a frown...

I put the lid on and pushed blend. Nothing blended. So I have the ingenious idea to stick a wooden spoon down there and mix things up a bit.

You know, they always tell you, "Don't stick your finger in a light socket," or "Don't stick a knife in the toaster," (actually, I figured that one out on my own too,) but nobody ever says, "Don't stick a spoon in an activated blender!" They should. It should be right up there with "Look both ways before crossing the street," and "Don't get into cars with strangers." Anyway, I digress...

My spoon hit the revolving blade and, well, you can just see for yourself:

Fruit smoothie everywhere. Compare the volume of smoothie in this picture with the previous one. The discrepancy all ended up on me and on the floor. It was a birthday disaster. Caleb started laughing and snapping photos, and I burst into tears, ashamed of my own incompetence. What married girl doesn't know how to make a smoothie?

If it was any consolation, what smoothie we managed to salvage from the wreckage actually tasted excellent.

Life's Simple Pleasures

2010-10-14T09:28:00.000-07:00

You know when you are eating a bowl of your favorite cereal (in my case, Cinnamon Toast Crunch) and you have extra milk left when it's gone? That's one of my favorite things. Because then you say to yourself, "Self, you should pour more cereal so you don't waste any milk!" That way you get seconds without feeling so guilty. I love that.

I also love singing in the shower. Not just the soft humming type. I'm talking the belt-out-loud, pretending-you're-on-Broadway type singing. My voice always sounds better in there.

And then there's the entire Thanksgiving season in general that I adore. The great "Thanksgiving F's," as I call them: Fall, Family, Food, and of course, FOOTBALL. Bring on the Bowl games. You could say I'm one of those Holiday nazis that gets really upset when Christmas lovers overstep their given celebratory time allotment. What, four weeks of Christmas music isn't enough? Thanksgiving is the red-headed stepchild of holidays--always overlooked by it's big brother Christmas. And no, reader. You're thinking I'm some evil eggnog-hating, reindeer-poaching, Scrooge-like villain who wants to extinguish the Yuletide spirit. Nay. I love Christmas. I just love Thanksgiving too. I think a holiday dedicated to gratitude merits at least a full week of our attention. So yes, I get rather vexed when people skip right to the "get-presents" holiday. Ok. Off the soapbox, Linds.

Next, I love sleeping. Caleb always laughs at me because every night when I crawl in bed I always give a big sigh, and say, "This is my favorite part of the day!" Speaking of sleep... I also really like flat pillows. None of that fluffy stuff. It hurts my neck.

And lastly, I love pumpkin. (Which I guess should have been grouped with Thanksgiving.) You could say that my favorite vegetable is pumpkin, even though I have never actually eaten just pumpkin. But it is included in so many delicious desserts, and therefore wins the favorite veggie award. Pumpkin Pie, of course, Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies, Pumpkin Crunch (a Snell family dessert with pumpkin and this divine cake mix/butter/nut topping.) Pumpkin bread from Great Harvest... Oh, and once my roommates and I ate an entire pumpkin sheet cake by ourselves in one night. Then there was last year when Caleb and I went to every place in Provo that served pumpkin pie milkshakes. AND you can carve them! Last year I won a pumpkin carving contest. I carved a BYU Football Helmet. Like I said, obsessed.

CB

2010-09-03T12:07:00.000-07:00

Am I allowed to have a favorite sibling? Well, I do, and I think it's OK because she's everybody's favorite. Corrie Beth Snell is just about the biggest blessing my family has ever had. We all love her so much, and wouldn't change her for anything. It's heartbreaking for me to hear that somewhere around 90% of babies with Down Syndrome are aborted. These special spirits teach us so much about what it means to truly love others, just as Corrie has taught me.

Here are a few photos of "CB," as I like to call her:

Corrie has a special attachment to Caleb. She frequently calls him the "best brother I ever had!" (She tells my sister's husband that too.)

Here they are together on the Oceanside Pier.

Corrie loves being in the limelight. Don't even try to take a picture without her in it. On several occasions she has wiggled her way between Caleb and I.

Take our wedding day, for example. I stood up to say a few words, and Corrie had slipped into my chair before I could sit back down.

Here she is again. She has to be the closest one to the bride and groom.

This is Caleb and I after we exited the temple. I don't think we have one picture of us without Corrie in it.

And here she is again, jumping right in front of the camera.

And Again...

And again...

I sure love this girl!!!

Summa Cum What?

2010-08-26T16:40:00.000-07:00

I like bragging about my husband, so this will be a bragging post. Caleb graduated a few weeks ago with his Chemical Engineering Degree from BYU. He graduated Summa Cum Laude, meaning he was in the top 1% of BYU’s graduating class. What was the GPA requirement to earn such an honor you ask? 3.99. But Caleb doesn’t like odd numbers. He graduated from BYU’s most difficult major with a 4.0! Nobody else even came close to that in his college. Caleb was also asked to speak at graduation. We got front row seats for that of course.

And, my mom even surprised us and drove through the night from California to see Caleb graduate. My aunt DeeDee came, along with my grandparents. Interestingly, Caleb had more of my family members at his graduation than I did. I've accepted the fact that everyone likes him more than me. It’s ok. I do too.

Caleb and his very proud parents.

Right before he received his diploma. The bib-looking thing is a "stole" signifying Caleb's membership in some elite academic society. (Thau Beta Pi? Can't remember.)

This is us outside the Smith Fieldhouse, where Convocation was held.

This is Caleb in front of the building he practically lived in for the past five years.

This is a personal favorite… reenacting many of our date nights while we were engaged and dating: Caleb doing homework while I was zonked out next to him in the ChemE computer lab. It must be love.

We also had a lot of fun with Caleb’s family while they were here. One memorable trip was fishing in the Provo river.

Here we all are with the fish we caught. Caleb didn’t catch one at first because he was helping everyone else. Don’t worry, though. He put on his new waders and hat, and caught a real winner!

Aw, isn't he cute?

Time Goes By...So Slowly

2010-08-26T16:02:00.000-07:00

Well, it’s been far too long since I’ve posted. Firstly, I am rather vexed that I can’t get my blog background to show up anymore. Caleb and I both followed the instructions to fix the problem, but to no avail. So I chose a simple replacement background. Oh well, no biggie.

Anyhoo… Lots has changed in the past few months. Caleb and I are now living in Springville, Utah with an elderly woman named Sherry. I took a job as her live-in nurse, and we’ll be here until January. Sherry is great, but the job isn’t quite what we’d hoped. Sherry has to have someone with her at all times (per request of her daughters), and she never likes to go anywhere. Hence, I never go anywhere. Cabin Fever anyone? I am always aching to get away, but the only break I get is from 12-2pm every day, and sometimes my relief doesn’t show up (like today. Grr.) But we made a commitment to stay here, and that’s what we’ll do. And I will try to have a positive attitude in the meantime.

In all of my spare time around the house I have taken up a few hobbies (I say hobbies, not talents. There is apparently a big difference; one implies a certain level of skill, of which I have none.) Nonetheless, I have enjoyed doing new things. Some of them are…

Baking. My favorite find so far is a chocolate zucchini bread recipe. To Die For. But I’ve also had fun creating other fun desserts. The only downside: someone has to eat the desserts, meaning I get fat.

Reading for FUN. Gosh, I haven’t done that in like ten years. So far I’ve read A Farwell to Arms (not so great. Good perspective on war, though), Sense and Sensibility (enjoyable, and very similar to the movie), Jane Eyre (Love love love. There are few books I've enjoyed more), and The Lost Symbol (from the guy who wrote the DaVinci Code. Dark, but intriguing). I am now moving on to Ivanhoe, the book that Robin Hood is based on. I’m only on chapter 2, but so far there’s no hint of robbing the rich to feed the poor. We’ll see.

Piano. Well, this isn’t really a new interest. I’ve been playing since forever. But now I spend my time learning every hymn in the hymn book. Why? Because I’m the unofficial Relief Society Pianist. For the eight weeks I’ve been in the ward, the real pianist has been MIA. So they call on me to fill in. The chorister has a strange attraction to obscure songs that I’ve never heard before. So I have to prepare.

Still, I get rather lonely here, so if anyone in the Springville area want to come by, I’d LOVE to see you!

Wedding Pics

2010-07-19T08:06:00.000-07:00

We finally got our wedding photos! Here are a few of my favorites...

Getting used to the camera.

Whispering sweet nothings...

Outside the reception venue. Wish I had this one in color.

This is what the temple looked like on my wedding day.

Thank you, Photo Shop.

The classic "wedding bands in bouquet" shot

Me and my "flower girl" Corrie Beth. I sure love her.

The Girls

The Silly boys

Groomsmen and Bridesmaids

Caleb pointed out that I like all the shots where his face is covered. I promise that is a coincidence.

He makes me work for it.

The lovely La Jolla shore

Dunno what to say about this one, except for I like it.

And we're still just as happy today.

Lindsey Snell Miskin, RN, BS

2010-07-07T07:39:00.000-07:00

I DID IT! After four years of nursing lectures, projects, homework, and tests, I finally passed the mother of all nursing tests: the NCLEX. Now I'm an official registered nurse. I passed in 75 questions, which is the least amount of questions possible to pass in. I've committed to my job now for the next six months, but after that I will be looking for an RN position somewhere. So if anyone has any leads or connections, let me know!

I love weddings...

2010-07-01T10:00:00.000-07:00

One of my best friends and roommate of three years Maria got married on June 19 in San Diego. So after four weeks of marriage, and despite the chagrin of my husband, I left Caleb for four days to go see Colby and Maria get hitched. Here's a pic of the lovely bride and groom:

Maria wore her grandmother's wedding dress. She rocked the vintage look. But let's be honest. She is so beautiful she'd make a paper bag look good. For some reason I love this pic of their feet.

Caleb was afraid I would run off with one of the groomsmen. This is as close as I got. It's Maria's pet tortoise, Salt. Pepper died.

Here are Maria's college friends: Katie Willis, Mandie Nufer, Me, and Jen Assily. We called ourselves the "Second Hand Bridesmaids" because Maria's sisters and sisters in law were all official bridesmaids. But we still dressed to match, and they even gave us little bouquets! We had the self-appointed task of grazing the dessert tables. We didn't want any delicious food to be left uneaten!

Flashback to my own wedding day. I feel for you, Maria. It makes taking pictures very difficult.

But hey. Just embrace it!

Maria didn't have a bouquet toss, but all the single bridesmaids still wanted the added luck. Thus, we created our own. This picture is taken mid toss. I call it "Desperation." Love those eyes, Katie. I think you're next!

On the way back to Provo we stopped at my parent's house in Temecula. We felt so bloated after the food-filled weekend that Corrie led us in the "Barbie Workout Video!" We had a blast, even if we burned more calories laughing than actually exercising.

It was an exciting weekend, but I was glad to see Caleb again. After all, who wouldn't wanna come home to this?

(Love you babe!)

Saturday with the Schlappis

2010-06-24T14:35:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago Caleb and I watched my cousins Sarah, Sammi, and Spencer in Lehi while their parents went down to Arizona for a wedding. We had so much fun together! I have a renewed appreciation for motherhood, however. Over the weekend, we did all sorts of fun things like...

Rockclimbing at Liberty Land!

Yes, Caleb wanted to play, too.

Sarah and Sammi raced to the top. Two of the most competitive sisters I have ever seen (except for my sister Justyn and I.)

The "Kids" also had a blast driving race cars, until it started to rain.

We watched Sammi's soccer game. Even after a kicked ball to the face, she still outplayed all her teammates. I hope this soccer thing sticks, and we have another player in the family.

And here are the cutest (and youngest) soccer parents in Lehi...

The Honeymoon...

2010-06-07T09:18:00.002-07:00

You know how some people have really bad luck? I'm one of those people. If having scaffolding all over the temple and a sick husband on my wedding day wasn't enough, just wait until you hear about our honeymoon:

Caleb suffered the effects of food poisoning for a few more days, but was feeling better by about Wednesday. All week he had been looking forward to an overnight deep sea fishing trip that we had booked (If you ask Caleb what his favorite sport is, he'll say fishing.) Unfortunately on Wednesday we received a call from H&M Landing reporting that our trip for that night had been cancelled. Strike one. Caleb managed to schedule a last minute slot on a boat leaving Thursday night, so we packed up our things, made some last minute schedule changes, and raced to the dock to make our 10pm departure. We barely made it, and because we were the last two people to sign up, we got the last two bunks... on opposite ends of the boat. So Caleb is sleeping by a huge hypothermia-inducing fan while I am thirty bunks away surrounded by old drunken sailors. Strike Two.

Have you ever been seasick? On your honeymoon? Well let me tell you about it. Twenty minutes after departure I found myself vomiting into my poor husband's hands because there was neither bag nor bathroom nor side of boat close enough. That of course made him sick. Caleb was able to make it to a toilet where he spent the next hour or so vomiting. We both spent that night suffering from severe "gastric discomfort." Strikes three and four.

Despite the mostly repulsive crowd constant state of nausea and/or vomiting, we both forced ourselves to fish. It actually helped our stomachs to focus on something. Caleb ended up catching more fish than anyone. He caught 6 Baracuda and 2 Yellowtail Tuna. I caught two Baracuda, which I was thrilled about. (I have never caught a fish before. Plus, I had just as much fun putting the live bait on the hooks!)

Now we can look back on that experience and laugh. We actually had a pretty good time, and it made for a truly unforgettable honeymoon. Other highlights of the week included:

Beautiful Burgers...

A few days on Oceanside Beach...

And a visit to Balboa Park

Love and Marriage

2010-06-04T10:05:00.000-07:00

So we're married now! The month of May was quite an eventful one. Here are the highlights:
April 23: Lindsey Graduates from BYU with her nursing degree! (Still unemployed. I'm currently studying to take my boards and become a real nurse.)
April 24: Lindsey flies home to Temecula to spend the next few weeks in wedding planning mode.
April 25: Caleb leaves for Peru for two weeks on an engineering study abroad. He implemented a water heater project for some of the local villages there.
April 25-May 10: Lindsey suffers withdrawal symptoms from Caleb while he is saving the world in another hemisphere. Good thing her mom keeps her busy.
May 11: Lindsey picks Caleb up from the airport and they drive directly to Redlands so she can go through the temple.
May 12: Down to San Diego to take pictures, then over to San Marcos to get a marriage license, then over to Temecula where Caleb gets food poisoning at Alberto's Mexican Restaurant.
May 13: Caleb is still very sick.
May 14: Still sick. Lindsey is panicking right about now.
May 15: Caleb (who is feeling better, praise the heavens) picks Lindsey up and they drive to the San Diego Temple to get hitched. Greatest day ever. It was wonderful to see so many loved ones. A family luncheon followed the marriage ceremony, and then there was a reception that night. At the reception, Caleb begins to feel sick again, so the bride and groom ditch their own reception early so Caleb won't throw up in front of all the guests...
The honeymoon stories only get better. More to come soon!

Engagements

2010-03-13T17:49:00.000-08:00

Caleb and I took our engagement photos last week! Our photographer Alaina was great. I recommend her for anyone looking for a photographer (adigitaldarkroom.blogspot.com). She took us to Provo's Center Street. Usually I really hate taking pictures because I have a cheesy smile, but the pictures turned out a lot better than expected--probably because I am so happy these days that my smile shows it!